If you missed the start of this series, you can find it here. A lot of things will be the same or very similar.
Not only were all the big white fluffy clouds from around noon were gone at sunset, ALL the clouds were gone. Boo!
Blah, blah, blah… white chicken, meds, bath then bedtime. Yadda, yadda, yadda… Things and Stuff, food, pill (cue Final Jeopardy music) and eventually sleep. I was awake until midnight again, even though I took my pill around 10:30pm. Frustrating!
I woke up at 4am and was awake. I went through my email, wrote an email around 5am, and was getting ready to send it when the OFF switch was activated. I briefly surfaced around 7am when Zeus bedquaked me, then slipped back under until 7:45ish when Ben decided it was time for me to be awake. He went beyond the regular Bounce and was actually laying on me and rolling across me. I was a piece of playground equipment. I got up at 8am and officially started my day.
The reason I needed to be awake was Ben needed tape. He wanted me to help him build another action figure sized Sweeney Todd Barber Chair. I spent the next thirty to forty-five minutes constructing this chair to his specifications. Then I threw a load of laundry in the washer, then did some renovations and repairs to the chair.
When I hollered out the 10:30 med alarm, Daughter asked me to come get it since Ben was in my room. I must’ve sighed or had a tone in my voice, cuz she said “Nevermind, I’m coming” I went to get the pill and she was refusing to give it to me. I told I was exasperated with Ben and the dang chair, to quit being a PITA and give me the pill. Her cheeks flushed and she shot daggers from her eyes, but she gave me the pill. UGH! It was the stupid Zoom School looming at 11am that had her all agro again.
Ben asked for chalk after the med, so I gave him a sixteen piece box that was in one of the bags of plastic bags. We got a delivery of sixteen boxes yesterday afternoon, so I have them stashed everywhere. Daughter went to her room at 10:45am to Zoom with Ben’s med doctor and I was summoned to Couch Sittin Duty.
I was only there for about twenty minutes, and part of that was spent sweeping up the bathroom and other parts of the front room. All the little corners and stuff. After the Zoom, (no changes) Daughter came out and set up for Ben’s Zoom School meeting.
It took her about five minutes to get him to stop with the chalk and come to the computer, but he did. I think he went because his Occupational Therapist was there, and he loves her. Shock of shocks, Ben actually participated for the full twenty minutes. He was goofing around and purposely doing things incorrectly, but he participated! (cue Keanu) I got him a box of forty-eight piece chalk to reward him for doing a good job.
Daughter settled back into Couch Sittin and show watchin, Ben went back to the chalk thang, and I put Daughter’s clothes in the washer. The vibe at Casa Cuckoo was much better after the Zoom was over.
I took the clothes to the dryers and an hour later went to pick them up. I’d taken a few pictures of the distant mountains while at the washer in the side yard, and I took another from across the street by the laundromat. The recent storm dropped the snow level to 2000 feet, (610 meters) so I expected to see snow on the western slopes.
The pictures aren’t that great, too much in the way. I thought about driving to the neighborhood in the western hills, or pulling over on the side of the freeway to get a better view, and decided neither option was a good idea. It’s rare to see snow on the western side of those mountains/foothills, but not ridiculously rare. I’ve seen it a couple times before.
I brought the clothes home, folded them and put them away. Daughter went to go lay down in her room around 3pm. I told her that she should try to stay awake, that sleeping would probably make her feel heavy, sick and logey this late in the afternoon and this close to work time. She shot daggers at me with her eyes again. Whatever… Forget the Quarter Lady, there might be a showdown between me and Daughter. Not really, but like the Heart song says “If looks could kill…”
Ben immediately decided he needed Pink Cookies. We are out of them. He spent the rest of the afternoon obsessing over the dang cookies. I couldn’t even go get any since Daughter was laying down and since I’m sure she heard him, but didn’t come out, she was either sleeping or she didn’t care about his obsession. I had to agree that the world wouldn’t end if Ben didn’t get exactly what he wanted, exactly when he wanted it.
It’s almost sunset time, and PreGame Show time. I’m Driving Miss Daisy tonight… fun, fun, fun…
It’s one of Ben’s Happy Songs and he’s been singing it all day. Also, to Celebrate him doing an awesome job of Zoomin today. Plus, Penguins Of Madagascar are hysterical, right?!
Another perfectly random day. Some good, some bad. All Casa Cuckoo “normal”. Tomorrow’s agenda is picking Daughter up from work in the morning, dropping her off at work in the evening, and a whole lotta Couch Sittin Duty in between. I wonder what else will happen. Let’s find out together. ¡Hasta mañana!
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HUGS!
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King Ben's Grandma 
Ugh – you thought it might be a busy day and it sure was. That is really great Ben sat for a zoom with his OT though! D does the same. He hates having to sit through zooms with his teacher, or in a break out room with his 1/1 aid – but totally loves his special meetings with his OT, speech therapist or social skills teacher. He loves those helpers and it is absolutely no problem getting him on a zoom with them.
Here is hoping that tomorrow is pretty uneventful for you between driving Miss Daisy episodes. I hope you guys have a great night and a great day ahead!
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Thanks, Robyn! Daughter told me that the head of our home district special ed wants to sit in on a Zoom with Ben. It’s set for February 3. When Daughter told me the date I felt like crying. It just made it real that school isn’t reopening anytime soon.
I’m not worried about her sitting in. She knows Ben and has championed for him all along. Maybe she can give us a “get out of Zoom free” pass😉
Although, Ben may decide he likes it if they can get his OT or Speech Therapist to ease him into the lesson🤷🏼♀️
I hope you’re getting some better sleep. Clock watching all night is awful. (I saw your comment on Gary’s post😉)
🤗🥰💕🌻
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Wow! A credit point to Ben for sitting through the zoom meeting. It seems that these meetings are causing more stress to your daughter than Ben. I hope it goes well without a showdown. I’m glad the second wave of sleep meant that you had dome decent hours of sleep.
Hope it goes smoothly tonight. Hugs.
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Yeah, Daughter hates them, so Ben gets in a mood from her mood🙄
I get to learn how to Zoom solo tomorrow. She’ll be sleeping and I’ve never used her laptop. She’ll have to show me how to sign in for the meeting. It will be interesting to see if Ben does better for me.🤔
I hope you’re having a great Thursday morning and the rest of the day is better!💃🏼✨🦋🌻💕
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Oh I hope that zoom meeting goes well. It’s pretty easy, you just have to click on the link for the meeting. I’ve been doing it for my grandson.
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I’m super happy Ben had a nice Zoom class with his fav OT. Wonderful news.
You made it through another day and survived the daughter drama. Good for you.
Made turkey chili, corn bread rice and bran muffins today. Finally worked on sewing masks. I had to rewatch the YouTube video. It had been months since I’ve made a mask.
Hope you sleep well Angie
Teri
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Thanks, Teri. Yummy chili and cornbread!
I’m not sure how sleep is gonna be tonight… it’s 11:53pm as I write this, and Ben is still awake. He takes enough medication to knock out a mule, but sometimes I swear he’s “riding the high” of the meds. Daughter is working tonight. I think the drive to drop her off excited sometimes.
I hope YOU are sleeping well!🤞💕
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Just emailed you 🙂
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Yes just seen, thank you 🙂
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Ben did so well. Those things are the kings of terror these days. School are trying to do about 3 a day for classroom teaching. xxx
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I think Ben’s school is trying to adapt, knowing these kids need one on one, in person instruction. They do have “group” but his entire class is only about 9 or 10 kids. The teachers are getting pressure to show that they’re attempting to teach, the school has to show they’re offering class so they can get paid… it’s all a waste of everyone’s time, but it’s the way the system operates, so we’re all doing the best we can🤷🏼♀️💌💌💌
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I’m with Ben, 😝 one cannot be cranky with penguins and “Celebrate” 🎶 playing in ones noggin! 😄 such a fun song and I’m so happy Ben did Zoom! 🥰💞🌈🦋🍄🌼🌸🤗
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Having his OT guide him through the transition helped. I think the activity may have been part of it too. He had to match words with pictures using the “mouse” (laptops don’t have regular mice, but I guess it’s still called a mouse?), so it was more interactive. Whatever the reason, it was a big win for him.🌠💃🏼💕
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That’s terrific!! ☺️✨💕 Way to go Ben!! 💫🐠🦄
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This is a suggestion that might get me (deservedly) slapped in the face: Have you thought about making your own pink cookies in La Cucina de Casa? It might be interesting and fun for Ben, it might not. (It’s possible that part of his enchantment with them is the packages they come in, making the home-cooking a moot point.) Just a thought…
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He doesn’t even eat the cookies! He picks the frosting off the top of the cookies and eats that. I’ve thought about a jar of pink frosting but a) I don’t think an entire container of frosting is a good idea b) he probably wouldn’t like it anyway.
He likes the choco chip cookies from Panda Express, but not homemade ones, or the kind that come from KFC. I’m trying to get him to try “Chips Ahoy”, but he is BEYOND picky.
It’s autism and genetic. His Mama is super picky too.
I’ll eat just about anything… when I can make myself eat🙄🤦🏼♀️ I think when the GLYSB finally returns, I’ll have less stress and maybe I can start putting some weight back on🤞
No slapping! Possibly an occasional swat on the booty, but usually only when mucho alcohol has been consumed 😉
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